#hauntsect

From the jewelry depicting lepidoptera to the pallor dominating not only flesh but also hair, eyes, and attire, it was difficult to keep his mouth shut. Despite what people would say about Kim, no one could ever accuse him of being a sociopath though there were plenty of other negative attributes someone could pin on him. Naturally he knew right from wrong, knew there was a filter connecting his brain from his mouth, yet he opted to speak plainly. In his perspective, there were far too many people who were willingly deceitful or too shy to speak necessary truths. The world was better off in the long run if people spoke their minds, or so Kim believed.

" Strangers, colleagues, lovers — yeah. Why not? Did I offend you? "

Kim adjusted black balaclava disguising the lower half of his face before running the pad of his thumb across the thick scar running across his brow, then followed the path to push his hairs out from his eyes. He was freshly showered, shaved, and dressed, having returned from deployment not five hours ago, but he looked ready to deploy for another mission. The sleeve of his black compression shirt was drawn over his forearm to pick at a healing wound. He would typically refrain from showing such disgusting behavior in public but judging by the bandages wrapped about the pale man's fingers @hauntsect, Kim figured he wouldn't mind.

" Hey, no one can accuse you of blending into a crowd, at least not the ones I'm usually in. You know how many Korean idols would kill to have your hair colour? "

There was gore everywhere. Body parts and internal organs, a frenzied attack executed with medical precision. Hyles stood in the centre of it all, surrounded by the mess he had created. Hughie was curled up in the corner of the room, his blood spattered form matching the walls around him.

They had been cops. Human beings just trying to do their job and now they were unrecognisable. They wouldn’t have been able to do anything, they couldn’t have actually taken Hughie or even hurt Hyles, but that wasn’t what this was about. It was to send a message to Hughie. As long as he lived, he belonged to Hyles.

you have wonderful eyes. (Araceae)

" mmh. "

blue eyes, pale to the point of resembling the sky when it barely had hue, more white than coloured. he often heard that it was a little 'creepy' when he stared too long at someone. it was great, for interrogations, to be able to unnerve someone. yet he didn't too often have someone compliment them. a tap of pale fingers against the long black sleeves and a bow of his head.

" thank you. i've been told they're unique. "

maybe it was a little funny that way. how did he manage to adopt the kid that had a more unnerving gaze than him? it was silly. the private investigator brushed off his sleeves then let his arms fall to his side.

Unfortunately the creature I picked out doesn't have much of a thematic theme compared to Atom, but I felt it was extremely fitting in terms of actual utility regardless. It's a fun one too, as I feel the Noglin would fit the Monarch a lot.

The lore behind the Noglin in-game is that it's the creation (one of many, in fact) of a guy who went mad trying to learn more about a resource known as Element - to a such an extent that he literally turned into a flesh-Gravemind-monster and tried to take over a giant generation ship. Fun stuff.

Anyways, while the Noglin is super ugly/cute, it has a very insidious ability. Even the name is a hint at what it can do - because the Noglin, once tamed, has the ability to puppet both tamed creatures and people.

This makes it an extremely dangerous creature in both the wild and player-versus-player combat. To give you a little bit of extra context about ARK, a lot of the experience is focused around mounted combat on your tamed creatures (the majority of which will involve dinosaurs or other prehistoric animals), and building bases to store your loot, process resources, breed gradually better and stronger dinosaurs, and so on. Obviously, there are defenses you can implement for said bases such as turrets that will shoot at people and tames alike. Said turrets will need to be powered by electrical (or Element) generators. These two core aspects of the game is where the Noglin comes in.

So, let's give two scenarios showcasing what exactly the Noglin can do. I'm gonna put this under a readmore though because this is going to get long.

Panic beats in Hughie's chest like a moth caught in a jar, wings flapping frantically, beating against unbreakable glass. He shakes his head, as though denial will actually help in this situation. Pulls on the chains around his wrists like he could actually pull them off the walls.

Piers did precisely what he excelled at, minding his own business. Despite being a capable soldier and perhaps because of such, he never liked being the bleeding limb in a crowd, and, frankly, no one had ever paid much attention to him in the past. Perhaps his call sign should have been ghost for the ease in which he blended into situations, though ghost was likely more appropriate for a person who was ruthless and intimidating; Piers did not have those qualities. Shadow was more fitting in truth. Being raised by a quiet, demure house wife and a loud, drill sergeant of a father, he learned at a young age that silence was more powerful than brash words and a egocentric appearance.

In hindsight he should have just purchased a six pack from the local liquor store, yet he was feeling oddly social... even though being social really just meant drinking in silence surrounded by strangers. How did people do it? Laugh so openly and make friends. it was easy for civilians, but even in a bar that primarily served those who served in the armed forces, most of the patrons spoke jovially with their friends. Piers finished his pint, left an all too generous tip on the table, and stepped into the night shinning with early snowflakes.

He didn't even don his jacket properly when the question hit him. It felt like a snowball to the face or an icicle sliding down his back. Who was the person talking to? Eyebrow rose in a high arch to demonstrate his confusion as he looked to the left and to the right; there were only two other people on the sidewalk, a couple walking hand-in-hand. Piers had been called a pretty boy and cute in boot camp. Naturally, it was just a way to antagonize him. He was not the kind of man people openly complimented much less called him cute. He was dumbfounded and had to snap his jaw shut in order not to look like a fish out of water.

“ I, umm, I... Are you serious? ”

Who was this person anyway? Piers looked the stranger @hauntsect up and down but found no familiarity within the features. It really did feel like prank, but Piers wasn't nineteen anymore, and only his teammates knew him in the city. Cute. Cute. The word drilled into his head, and suddenly it wasn't the cold turning his cheeks pink. Nervously, he scratched the back of his head at the brunette hairs, trimmed and up to regulation. He cleared his throat and attempted to look both his age and his standing. He was a soldier, and soldiers should never stumble over their words.

“ ...Sure. I've never had this happen before... ”

Hughie physically recoiled from the cold, soft voice in his ear. His mind raced wildly for a moment and he looked down at his phone to check that it was Butcher's number that had called him. Which meant one of two things: Monarch had either cloned Butcher's number or he had done something to Butcher.